The view becomes brighter when he slowly opens his eyelids.
What appeared in front of Cheshire was not an evil maid, not a terrifying half-brother, not a father who was about to come to kill him.
A faint light shone like a halo behind someoneâs tiny body.
ââŚAngel?â
Cheshire suddenly recalled <The Gate of Heaven>, which he had seen several times.
A sculpture of baby angels guarding the gate to heaven.
Whenever he saw it, Cheshire used to pray.
If there is a God, please send a little angel. Take me out of this hellâ.
âAh.â
Cheshire jumped on a moment of confusion.
The silver-silver hair and blue eyes that glowed in the dark were like angels, but it wasnât.
âItâs that kid back then.â
The owner of the handkerchief.
It was the girl.
âHow did she get hereâ? And why is she crying?â
The child suddenly shed tears, closed her small lips, and swallowed the tears for a long time.
ââŚCheshire.â
How did she know? The child who approaches him calls his name.
âIâm here to take you out.â
ââŚWhat?â
âIâm sorryâŚ.â
Cheshire stared blankly at the child.
How did she know this place and come to take him out? And what does she feel sorry about?
âLetâs get out.â
The child held out her hand.
Cheshire hesitated and couldnât stop the outstretched hand, which looked like it could save him.
The child is not an Angel.
She wonât be able to get him out of this hell.
âWho are you?â
âLilith.â
âIâm not asking your name.â
âIâll tell you after I get you out safely. Letâs get out of here for now. Okay?â
The childâ No, Lilith said, wiping away the tears that continued to flow at that moment with her sleeve.
âTrust me just onceâŚ.â
Can he believe it?
What if youâre not an angel?
To me, who longed for heaven, she said that she would take me to heaven. What if she just said it like a temporary joke, like sympathy?
But the child, instead of sweet words.
âAnyway, anywhere, itâll be better than this hell.â
She said so.
ââŚThatâs right.â
The alertness melted down by the words that were not sweet.
âItâs okay if itâs not heaven. Itâs better than this hell.â
Cheshire held the angelâs hand as if possessed.
*****
âŚI didnât expect him to hold my hand so easily
I stared blankly down at Cheshireâs hand.
ââŚYou told me to grab it.â
âO, oh, ung!â
Thatâs a relief. Great. I asked one more time, sniffing and swallowing my nose with an expression that neither smiled nor cried.
âYouâre going with me, right?â
ââŚ.â
âHehe.â
I smiled as I looked at the Cheshire following me.
Now Iâm looking at his childhood, which Iâve never read in the original.
âReally, itâs a relief.â
Thatâs what I thought.
Just a little more, I can get this kid out of hell.
âIâm really sorry I came lateâŚ.â
Cheshire stared at me with strange eyes.
âI wonât let anyone hit you now. Iâll punish them all with a poker. â
â⌠How can you? Youâre much smaller than me.â
âNot me, but my Dad!â
The protection of the main character Enoch Rubinstein to you too! Iâll show you the taste that is protected by the strongest in the world!
âLetâs run to the reception room of the main building. My Dad is there.â
We ran diligently. As I turned back the way I came, I found a staircase.
âBy the way, Cheshire. You know, I donât know if you know this, but this is the basement and the second floor. To go outsideâŚ.â
Ugh. Looking at me already panting, Cheshire said.
âYou have to go up to the third floor.â
ââŚUgh. So you know that? Letâs go!â
I didnât know when I went down, but it was very difficult to go up from the second basement level to the third floor.
I must go up one step at a time with my short legs.
I encouraged Cheshire nonetheless.
âCheshire! Cheer up a little more! Letâs goâ!â
âŚHeâs not here?
Looking back at the bottom of the stairs, I was confused, but when I looked up, I saw Cheshire, who was ahead of the ten stairs.
âUuh. I see, Iâm the weak one.â
I climbed the stairs again.
A babyâs body that is far less developed than a seven-year-old. It felt like climbing Everest.
âUgh, Lilith, saveâ
Itâs right in front of me.
I saw Cheshire waiting for the side door open.
âFrom now on, itâs only downhill!â
But for some reason, Cheshire stopped and didnât move.
âWhy, uhh. Whatâs wrong? Is someone there?â
ââŚNo, but there are servants from here.â
âOh, that? Itâs okay! I donât care if I get caught. As long as you donât get caught!â
I laughed and beat Cheshire as if competing.
âHurry up!â
ââŚ.â
There was a sound of footsteps following.
Leave the key on the second window sill in the lobby hallway so I can collect it.
âThere!â
The lobby on the first floor. Iâm trying to hide the keys as I promised Richell.
âOh my.â
âŚIt was highâthe window.
I was flustered for a moment because I couldnât reach it even when I lifted my tiptoe and someone snatched the key from my hand.
It was Chesire.
âAre you going to put it on the window frame?â
âUng, thatâs right!â
Nice. Weâre in sync.
Cheshire, who hid the key safely, crossed the lobby again.
Then.
âNo, where the hell did she go?â
âShe probably went outsideâŚ.â
I heard voices from the entrance.
Cheshire stopped.
Jonathan, who was annoyed with the servants, looked back as if he felt our presence.
ââŚ.!â
His eyes grew wide as if they were falling out.
âWhat, w, why that bratâŚ.â
âOh, hello! I found a friend down here!â
I said brightly, dragging Cheshire to Jonathanâs front.
He trembled in thought.
âY, y, you⌠B, back to your room. Are you not going back to your room?â
âWeâre going to play hide-and-seek! Run!â
I pushed the Cheshire on. He started running towards the entrance.
âG, get that punk!â
âY, yes? W, whoââ
The servants, unaware of Cheshireâs existence, were embarrassed but soon began to chase after him to catch him.
I also jumped around in the gap.
âP, princess! The princess is standing there!â
âUgh!â
Jonathan grabbed me by the back of the head as if he was going to block my mouth first.
âI, I canât breathe.â
âIâm sorry, but⌠Wait a minute. Hold on. I need to talk to youâŚ.â
As soon as he let go of the back, I tried to run away again.
âAck!â
Jonathan, who pushed me, turned me upside down nicely.
âWhoa, youâre such a punkâ! Youâre so mean to a baby like meââ
I was in pain with my chin banged, and I saw Cheshire.
I just had to leave the entrance, but I couldnât.
Because of me!
âG, go first!â
I reached out and shouted like a general caught by the enemy.
It doesnât matter if I get caught anyway. All I have to do is make Cheshireâs presence visible to my Dad.
âPlease go! Leave me alone with the coldness that hit my neck relentlessly in the original story.â
But contrary to my wishes, Cheshire began to run back the way he had fled.
âAh, that fool!â
The servants reached for Cheshire, but he easily avoided them and quickly approached me.
âHuh? Why is he so fast?â
It was quick enough to make me feel out of place.
âYouâare you crazy? Are you crawling out here? Canât you go back to your room right now?â
Jonathan shouted at Cheshire, who came close.
He clenched his fist as if he couldnât contain his anger.
âNo! Donât hit my friend! Youâre a bad guy!â
However, Cheshire simply avoided his fist by turning his head easily.
Then he reached out to me, who had fallen.
âStupid! I told you to go first!â
You canât run away with me anywayâ.
ââŚ.?â
âthatâs what I thought.
âW, what?â
The moment Cheshireâs hand touched.
Suddenly, I came out of the wide open annex door.
The distance from those who followed was also far away.
âWhat? Does he move in an instant?â
Like me in panic, Jonathan, who was flustered by the two of us who disappeared in front of my eyes, shouted.
âC, catch them! Catch them!â
ââŚLetâs run.â
Cheshire took my unfamiliar hand and ran across the garden.
âWhat is this? Oh, my! Thatâs right! Itâs not teleportationââ
I realized as I ran.
The original story that gave the two main characters their abilities.
According to Cheshireâs No. 5 settingâ.
Cheshire Rubinstein (Main character)
Fist that looks slow
Surprisingly, the fraudulent character was able to control the density of time. (T/n: fraud character is slang means overwhelmingly strong character.)
If he puts his mind to it, the opponentâs movements look like slow motion.
Now I understand Cheshireâs agility, which I even feel a little out of place.
âThis, thisâŚâ
I grinned.
âDaddy and Cheshire, how can you both have a fraud character?!â
I felt confident again, so I speeded up my short legs.
âKyahahahaha! Get out of my way!â
Iâm done with my work.
All thatâs left isâŚdestroy these people.
*****
At that time.
Enoch was sitting opposite the Marquis Onyx in a lavishly decorated drawing room.
ââŚThere was a lot of talk then. Ignorant people who couldnât understand the situation of the Duke had a lot of mouth attacks.â
âIs that so?â
As expected, the Marquis seemed to want to use a string, so only the words from his mouth came out.
âBut all parents who have children will know. What kind of heart did Duke have when he took the princess with him and disappeared 7 years ago?â
âOh, yes, thank you for noticing.â
In a half-hearted reply, Enoch concentrated closely.
He gathered Mana and tried to raise his senses, but he couldnât feel the childâs presence at that time.
âItâs almost undetectable at all. Maybe it was in a distant annex, or if itâs not, donât tell meâ it probably wasnât something that had already gone wrong, right?â
Enoch recalled the childâs face again with impatience.
A child with empty eyes but sharp corners like a well-lit sword.
There was a strange attraction that he wanted to find again even if it wasnât for Lilithâs request.
âBut your son earlier, is he all the son Iâve seen?â
When Enoch asked, the Marquis and Marchionessâ faces hardened.
It was a momentary change, but he couldnât escape Enochâs eyes.
âYes, thatâs right. Our familyâs original hands are precious.â
âIs that so?â
Enoch, who had nothing more to see in the obvious response, rose.
He was thinking of narrowing the distance to the annex and looking for the child.
âCan I take a look around the exhibition room too?â
âYes, yes. I will guide you directly.â
The Marquis, who was stabbed for nothing by the story of a child who suddenly jumped out, was unable to capture his expression and scrambled.
It was then when he was about to leave the room.
âDaddy!!â
A voice echoed outside the door.
âLilith?â
Tak, tak, tak.
The sound of small steps running.
âW, w, wait! Princess, please! Stop!â
Even Jonathanâs shouting, seemingly embarrassed, followed.
âWhat is thisâŚâ
The Marquis and his wife were perplexed by the unexpected ruckus, the same was true with Enoch.
And bang!
The moment the living room door opened.
âH, how did you get hereâ!â
Lilith could be seen over the Marquis and Marchionessâs contemplative faces.
âDad!â
Lilith with an innocent smile on her face.
And next to her.
âRemember this kid?!â
The kid he met a week ago.
âI guess the Marquis also invited him!â
There was an illegitimate child of the Marquis of Onyx.